Stargazer
by futo
Summary: Inspired by this piece of fanart (ir-dr[.]tumblr[.]com/post/132332398940/). RinMaki. In which Maki and Rin form a stargazing club. Slow-burn as all hell, I apologize deeply. [will probably write a proper summary later]
1. Chapter 1

School life at Otonokizaka seemed near pointless to Maki Nishikino. It only prolonged the inevitable. Regardless of what she did here (aside from getting high marks on quizzes and tests), she would go to college to study medicine, and eventually take over her parents' hospital. Everyone around her wasn't chained by their family name, as far as she could tell; after all, they all thoroughly enjoyed the diverse clubs and classes the school had available.

 _It's only my first year here, and I'm getting so worked up over this,_ Maki sighed to herself. _Yearning for a different life will only make it harder to resign to my fate._

Despite this mindset, she still glanced around the classroom, perhaps out of curiosity. She'd gotten to recognize her classmates well, even if she didn't know their names yet (it was only a few weeks into the school year). There were the two who sat up front who always barely managed to pass tests, and afterwards would go out for sweets. There was the group of five who sat on the left of the classroom, nearest to the windows, who always divvied up tough workbook questions amongst themselves. There was even one girl in the near-center who wore glasses and almost never paid attention in class, choosing instead to focus on making origami animals.

Maki observed, never choosing to speak to them, not knowing how to strike up a conversation. There was another like her in the class, in that regard. The lone girl who sat on the other side of the classroom on the right, near the back door, with the orange hair so bright that the sunlight shining on it gave the impression it was glowing. She wasn't extremely impressive, routine-wise. She didn't talk to anyone unless spoken to, and even then she'd stutter, and turn down requests to accompany them somewhere if asked. More often than not, she'd just watch the girl with the glasses who created the origami animals. One could call it weird, since the girl with the orange hair watched with such an intensity, and usually (accidentally?) ended up tuning the teacher out in the process.

"Can I come in?" An out-of-place voice sounded from the hallway. The teacher, who had just arrived, nodded and invited the voice in. In walked a girl, with her hair tied into two long twintails, who walked to the front of the class and smiled.

"Hello! I'm Nozomi Toujou." She folded her arms behind her back. "I'm the vice president for the student council. I'm only here with a reminder, so I won't stick around too long." Chairs and people shuffled in order to hear better.

"We forgot to mention this at the big ceremony, but please choose your class representative if you haven't already!" She paused for a minute. "Oh, and since you guys are first years, I recommend looking around at all the clubs we have to offer! Anyways, that's all! Bye bye!"

As if on cue, chatter broke out among the students as soon as the vice president exited the room. Maki watched as all her classmates fell into the same groups she knew they'd go to, and the few loners, including herself, remained in their places.

"Rin-chan!" She overheard one of the more excitable girls talking to the orange-haired girl. "Who are you gonna vote for to be our class representative? I was thinking maybe Hiyori-chan. She kinda gives off this aura of responsibility…"

"Ehhh…I dunno, really." Rin (if Maki was to believe that girl hadn't given her a nickname or anything) looked down at her desk and shuffled her feet. "Hiyori-san… maybe. I was thinking m-maybe Nishikino-san? I mean, she's gonna inherit a hospital soon, so I think she'd be pretty responsible…"

…Since when had she told anyone that she was going to work at her parents' hospital? Maki shrugged to herself and assumed that someone's parents knew hers, and had therefore told their child, which would explain how Rin knew. Her parents were extremely proud that she was going to "continue on their legacy," as they put it, and never passed up a chance to boast about her and her capabilities, so it was a safe enough assumption.

"How'd you know that?" the other girl prodded Rin, smirking. "Nishikino-chan doesn't talk to anyone, y'know?"

"O-One of my sisters was treated at their clinic a while back," Rin near-muttered. "I-I guess it's kinda brash to think she's gonna inherit it." Oh, so that's how she knew. Maki hoped this information wouldn't spread to the other students. She didn't need to deal with being voted class representative on top of fulfilling her parents' expectations. Sighing, she looked out the window on her left. The school day had finally begun, and teacher had just started writing on the board as various students fished through their bags to retrieve notebooks.

This was going to be a long day.

* * *

Lunchtime was the easier portion of the day. Maki could easily hide up on the roof, away from the chatter, away from the gossip.

 _If I was still little, I would've called it a "secret base",_ she mused. Untying the knot, Maki peeked into her bento, smiling as she noticed the tomatoes. Suddenly, the metal door burst open, causing Maki to nearly (and literally) lose her lunch.

"U-Uh, this is about earlier," a slightly familiar voice said. Much to Maki's surprise, Rin stood at the door. "We were talking about you, and you were sitting right there and I… didn't consider how rude it was…"

"It's fine, really," the redhead picked up her lunch and sat up straight again. "I figured everyone would find out somehow."

"Oh! I, uh, hope I didn't startle you," Rin shyly scratched the back of her neck. "The door was a lot heavier than I thought, so I just kinda pushed it with all I had, nya…".

"Quit apologizing, you didn't do anything wrong." Honestly, Maki couldn't understand why this girl kept apologizing. "... Is there anything else you need?"

"N-No! I'll, uh… go back to eating my lunch!" Awkwardly, Rin shuffled her feet and walked hurriedly toward the door.

 _I've never had to deal with someone so ridiculously shy before_ , sighing, she picked up her chopsticks. _What's her deal?_

* * *

Typically, if you're an honors student and you want to keep it that way ( _especially_ if your parents had extremely high expectations of you), you'd spend a good portion of your nights studying, and not slipping out of your house to look at a constellation that only showed once a year. Typically, anyway.

This wasn't the first time she'd done this. Maki would just talk to her parents, play off her homework as insignificant and something she could get done easily when she came back, and carry her telescope to the nearest hill.

Thankfully she was used to carrying the bulk of her telescope, and brought it easily up the hill, prepared to set it up and enjoy the view of the night sky. She was startled, however, when she noticed another person sitting on the hill, staring up at the sky. No one else had ever been there at the same time she was, and Maki wasn't in the mood to make pleasant conversation with a possible stranger. After all, this constellation only came out once a year.

With a start, she noticed the orange color of the person's hair, and realized it was the girl who had known her parents worked at a hospital… what was her name, Rin? She cautiously approached the hill, not wanting to startle Rin, since it seemed she hadn't noticed the other girl.

The clanking of her telescope as she placed it on the hill and began to set it up brought Rin's attention to her. Rin looked quite shocked to see someone else here, as Maki had been when she first noticed Rin.

"W-What are you doing here, Nishikino-san?" Rin looked at her telescope with minor jealousy, and Maki realized that Rin didn't have one of her own; at least, not one with her.

"I'm here for stargazing… is that why you're here?"

Rin looked nervous. "Ah, yeah… I don't have my own telescope, though, so I mainly come here to just admire the sky. My last name means 'starry sky', you know. I've always loved the stars, especially since…" Rin trailed off, and Maki looked curiously at her, but didn't ask more.

"I-If you want, you can use my telescope," Maki said nervously. She couldn't help wanting to get to know this girl more; she was intriguing, in her own way. Rin's eyes widened and she looked hesitant all of a sudden, and she quickly stood up, brushing invisible dirt off of her skirt.

"No, it's okay. I… I have to get home. It's getting late." Rin turned and walked hurriedly down the hill, giving Maki no opportunity to call her back or ask what she had to do that was suddenly so important. Maybe she just didn't want to be around Maki. Was that it?

Maki shook her head. No use worrying about it for now. But as she turned back to her telescope and tried to concentrate on the dazzling sky above her, she found she couldn't quite focus on anything but Rin.


	2. Chapter 2

The first thing on Maki's mind when she entered the classroom was Rin.

 _I've got to ask her about…_ Well, she could always figure that part out later. She couldn't believe that someone, heck someone in her year and class, would be interested in stargazing.

Unfortunately, someone else had already gathered the class's attention.

"I'm telling you, if we get a school idol group up and running, you all could be famous! You'd be known all throughout Japan, and your future music career would be set!" A passionate third year, speaking at almost a mile a minute, stood at the front of the class. Idol music… was a genre Maki considered subpar, to be nice about it. It was too shallow, too simple for her tastes. The lyrics were meaningless throwaway lines about dreams or love or something along those lines, and the music had little variety.

Besides, this girl was leaving out the worst parts, wasn't she? The idol industry was one that was always demanding more from its workers, since there were so many groups nowadays.

 _School idols aren't necessarily just like real idols_ , Maki thought to herself. _But it's still the same basic concept._ She looked at Rin, seeing what she thought of the third year's speech. The orange-haired girl was definitely listening, but her eyes remained down at her lap. Her expression looked troubled, and Maki could just barely make out her twiddling her fingers in her lap. What reason exactly did she have to behave like this? This girl just got more and more interesting as time went on, it seemed. Maki got up, with the intention of at least going over to the black-haired third year and telling her to get out, but just as she had scooted her chair backwards, the teacher had walked in. The third year looked visibly disgruntled by the woman's poor timing, muttering something before leaving with one final line.

"A-Anyhoo, think on it at the very least, nico?"

Maki rolled her eyes.

 _Disgusting._

* * *

Another school day down, another one to come soon. Such was the cycle of life for high school students. Maybe if the music room was vacant this time around, she'd be able to play the piano. Wait, no, the school's band had upcoming auditions. There would certainly be someone in there practicing. Sighing, Maki packed her English textbook into her bag and zipped it closed. As she made her way towards the door, she noticed an identical English textbook that lay open on Rin's desk.

 _Hopefully, she hasn't gotten too far_ , Maki picked the book up and walked briskly into the hallway. Thankfully, several paces away, she could see Rin (with, notably, no one walking with her).

"H-Hoshizora-san!" She hadn't meant to stutter, but that's what happened anyway. "You left your English textbook on your desk!" Thankfully, that got Rin's attention. She braced herself for impact when the orange-haired girl came sprinting towards her.

"Ah, th-thank you so much, Nishikino-san!" She had managed to skid to a stop before crashing right into the redhead. "You're a lifesaver, nya!" There it was, with that "nya" again.

"It's nothing really, we're classmates after all." She handed the book over to Rin, who promptly slipped it into her bag.

"Oh, and by the way, you can call me by my first name…"

"...Rin…-san?"

Silence and awkward glances.

"...Rin-chan..?"

"There you go! C-Can I call you 'Maki-chan'?" Rin trailed off with something that sounded like "since 'Nishikino-san' is kind of a long name anyways…".

"S-Sure, why not," Not many people were on a first name basis with Maki; the sound of her name followed by a -chan suffix was weird when it wasn't coming from her mother. "A-Anyway… do you walk home alone?"

"A-Ah, yeah…" Crap, what kind of transition was that? Maki was hoping that wouldn't end up being a bad conversation switch. _And we just got on first name basis, too_. "It's not that long of a walk though, so it's not really, uh, lonely…"

"I'll walk home with you, then," Maki offered. Maybe she could learn more about Rin on the walk there. "If you don't live too far from that hill, then our houses shouldn't be so far apart that I can't walk home with you."

"Ah, no, I'm fine, Maki-chan. I'll go home by myself." Before Maki could stammer out a reply, Rin had already turned away and was jogging towards the direction of her house. Maki didn't try to catch up; Rin must be on the track team if she could get away that fast. She shrugged and started walking at her own pace, thinking about why Rin had been so anxious to avoid walking home with her.

* * *

Maki supposed she should thank some higher deity for all the clear nights. This was the second night in a row she was able to make the trek up the hill and stargaze, which was rare in and of itself considering it was fall, the season when the weather was just starting to get unstable. There had been a light rain during the afternoon, thus creating a light frost on the grass that partially reflected the stars above, displaying a serene, yet slightly eerie atmosphere.

 _Hopefully Rin will be here today, too_. _I kinda want to talk with her again._ Maki was nearing the top of the hill, but couldn't see the girl anywhere. _Hmm… maybe she's late? Misread the forecast?_ Reaching the top of the hill, she moved a little further to set her telescope down. Rin was nowhere in sight.

 _Kind of a shame she isn't here. Scorpius is so bright tonight…_

Although Rin had never shown up in the end, Maki had an idea.

* * *

The next day in class, there was surprisingly not another third year at the front of the class advocating for them to join a club. When Maki walked in, she didn't take her seat immediately, but instead walked over to where Rin was sitting. Rin looked up as she approached and smiled.

"Hey, Nishiki- I mean, Maki-chan! What's up?" Maki briefly wondered how anyone could be so cheerful in the mornings before she answered.

"Ah, well, I was wondering if you maybe wanted to… start a stargazing club with me." Maki saw Rin's expression change, but couldn't immediately tell if it was a positive reaction. "O-only if you want to, though. It was just an idea…"

"Ah! No, I'd… I'd love to make a stargazing club, actually. But," she said, "It can't be on track days. So not on Tuesdays or Wednesdays, or Fridays…"

"That's fine, actually. We can have it on Mondays, and maybe Thursdays.." Rin's face lit up at her response, and Maki smiled. _Finally, a chance to talk to her and get to know her._

"Alright! Do… do we want to go to the student council during lunch today to get our club approved?" Rin asked, and Maki thought a moment before nodding.

* * *

The girl who introduced herself as the student council president, Eli Ayase, crossed her arms as she stood behind the table between her and Rin, who was looking down, saddened, and Maki, who was quite frankly mad. Her friend Nozomi, whom Maki remembered as the girl who had been at the front of their class a few days ago, sat to Eli's right, twirling a blue tarot card between her fingers as she smiled kindly at the two first-years.

"Seriously?" Maki asked. Eli looked at her intently, arms still crossed.

"You can't start a club unless you have six members. School policy."

Maki was inclined to argue, but she saw it was no use, and held her tongue while maintaining her deadlock staring match with the student council president. Nozomi, with her left hand, pushed the club application form back towards the duo, with a slightly apologetic look on her face (not losing that smile, which didn't portray even a hint of smugness). Closing her eyes and sighing heavily, Maki took back the form and turned to the exit, Rin following a short ways behind her.

"I'm sorry, Maki-chan," Rin said, clearly crestfallen.

"Don't apologize." The redhead leaned on a wall, staring at the floor as if her anger could burn a hole through it. "I was the one who didn't check the school policy on clubs beforehand."

Silence had fallen, and was definitely making itself comfortable. With there being nothing more to say, Rin waved at Maki, adjusted her bag on her shoulder, and walked away.

 _Six members, six members…_ Maki folded her arms. She was still intent on making the club, but where would she get four more people…? Was she even friends with that many people?

Then an idea hit her.

* * *

Though Maki didn't have many friends, she definitely had a few close acquaintances. They were mostly kids she'd met through her parents and their friends. She was still in touch with a few of them, but most of them had just… left her behind. Whether it was age, moving, or clashing ideals that had developed, Maki seemed to wind up friendless in the end.

 _Rin's probably the closest thing I have to a friend anymore_ , she thought grimly, sorting through her phone to get to her contacts list. _I'm not gonna leave this opportunity to gather dust again._ She already had a mental outline of people she'd try to get a hold of for the club, eliminating a few that didn't go to the school or she disliked too bitterly.

After a minute or two, she'd finally found a possible candidate. The girl in question was a year above Maki. Their parents had been long time friends (was that girl's mother still the principal of Otonokizaka? She couldn't quite remember…), and Maki had met her at some sort of arranged playdate they had put together. She was nice enough, but even at a young age Maki couldn't help but feel that behind her aloof and kind smile, she was probably more devious than she seemed. Either way, none of that mattered in the end. The girl had moved on with her life and made friends in her age group. Maki had seen her around the school a few times in the hallway, though they'd only exchanged a few waves. Nothing more. Nothing less.

So she was just an acquaintance. She was someone Maki was still on friendly terms with, but not overly friendly.

 _If that's all it is, then why am I shaking?_ She'd already opened up a text message to her (she'd been a bit hard-pressed to remember her name, but eventually came up with "Kotori Minami"), but formulating words was harder than expected. Should she put it all into one big text, or maybe start off by asking if Kotori was in a club yet? Did Kotori still use this number?

 _No, she_ should _still be using this number. Mama only gave me her phone number last year_. Well, that was one fear qualmed, but more and more kept rushing into her mind and-

 _Stop. Fretting over this isn't getting the club any closer to six members._ She slowly inhaled and exhaled, looking back down at her phone. _I'll just ask if she's in a club for now._

* * *

"Oh, Kotori-cham, you goff a tex fom someone," Honoka, who was stuffing her face with bread and using Kotori's phone as a calculator, stared at the notification on her friend's phone. "Who'ff… 'Maki Nikino'?"

"Honoka, please stop talking with your mouth full," The fact that her friend could form _anything_ intelligible while eating was impressive, but certainly not praiseworthy. "And don't go through Kotori's messages."

"I waffn't!" Then, remembering her friend's advice (or lecture, depending on the point of view), she swallowed her bread and turned to the blue-haired girl. "I just was letting Kotori-chan know! You gotta have more faith in me, Umi-chan…" Honoka passed the phone over to the aforementioned "Kotori-chan", who was on her left, staring at a sketch of a costume.

"Thanks, Honoka-chan," Kotori smiled as she put down her pencil and looked at her phone. "Maki-chan, huh…? I haven't talked to her in ages."

"Who is she? Is she in our grade?"

"Honoka, don't be nosy."

"Hehe, it's fine, Umi-chan. She's a girl I know from when I was little. She's a year younger than us." The text message was fairly simple, just Maki asking if she'd already joined a club.

" _mmm, nope! why?"_ Kotori was about to give Honoka back her phone so that it could be put to use as a calculator again when it buzzed, notifying her of Maki's response.

" _I was thinking about making a stargazing club w/ a friend. We only have 2 people rn"_

It seemed Maki had been expecting that response and already formulated one of her own in the meantime. Not wanting to keep her waiting, the yellow-eyed girl was about to answer when she looked over at her friends.

"Are you guys interested in joining a club together?"


	3. Chapter 3

hey

so i totally forgot to put things here. so, stuff:

this is actually a collaboration fic i'm writing with a friend (her ao3 is **mysterixn** if you wanna read more things she wrote!), based on a picture and an outline i made like in december. basically, we both write and edit some. i apologize for the wait; i had my finals and stuff, but now i'm out of school. i tried to write some short stuff as an apology, but it all ended up being longer than i had anticipated. those will probably get finished and published soon-ish as well! (hopefully)

thank you so much for the reviews! i wasn't expecting this fic from the third circle of Minor Pair Hell to get any reviews just based on the first 2 chapters, heh

(stargazing rinmaki is like the vanilla-est of vanillas you can get)

what your other author wants to say: I don't even really ship rinmaki but I'm here anyway

* * *

Maki looked at the girl Kotori had introduced as Honoka, who was currently wearing a small pout. "Is… is anything wrong, Honoka?"

"I was told there would be snacks," came the small reply, and Maki contained a laugh. Kotori giggled before grabbing a plastic bag from inside her school backpack, and handed it over to Honoka. Honoka peered inside curiously, then looked positively ecstatic at the bread Kotori had brought, and she quickly opened the first package and started eating. Maki rolled her eyes and looked at the blue-haired girl, Umi.

"Was there anything you wanted, Umi?" Maki asked. Umi shook her head, a small blush on her face.

"No, I'm fine. I'm just glad I get to be here." Maki raised an eyebrow at her response, and Kotori smiled, mostly to herself.

"Ah… I'm glad you could convince more people to join the club, Kotori," Maki said.

"Me too, Maki-chan! This club sounds like fun!" Kotori smiled at her. "Now we just need one more person to make this an official club!"

Rin piped up for the first time in their unofficial meeting. "T-Thank you for joining the club, nya." Despite her seemingly unenthusiastic statement, Maki could tell she was thrilled that there were other people who wanted to join them, which brought a small smile to Maki's face.

On a whim, Maki glanced over towards the window, and was only somewhat surprised to see a black-haired girl, supposedly trying to hide behind a tree, looking at them with a scowl. Nico, the third year who had excitedly told them all about school idol groups and made Rin uncomfortable, had been doing this for nearly a week now. Maki supposed she would call it spying, as Nico literally never let them out of her sight. She desperately wanted Nico to stop, though, as it kept making Rin nervous.

Nico kept trying to recruit them as school idols, extolling their talents at every chance: Kotori was great at making costumes, Umi wrote good poetry, Maki could write wonderful music, and Honoka and Rin were captivating and cute. All of these things, she said, would be perfect for them to use as idols. But Maki glared at Nico every time she brought it up, and told her, over and over, that they were already in a club.

Nico couldn't seem to take a hint, though. When Maki next looked at the tree, Nico was nowhere in sight, and a few seconds later, the girl burst through their (unofficial) club room door.

"Nico," Maki said flatly.

"Maki, Kotori, Umi, Honoka, Rin!" Nico said in a single breath. "Why are you guys here and not, you know, joining the idol club?"  
Honoka, Kotori, and Umi looked mildly confused as to why Nico was even here, while Rin looked down uncomfortably and Maki glared at Nico. "Maybe because we don't _want_ to be in the idol club?" Maki shot back.

"Aww, come on! You guys are so much better suited for being idols! And if you join, you'll even get your own club room! You'll be popular! You can put your talents to use! Why won't you join?" Nico sounded almost angry at the end of her tirade, but Rin's uneasiness was now visible to most everyone, and Honoka stepped in.

"Nico-chan, we're already in this club. Could you stop bothering us to join your idol group? None of us appreciate it," Honoka said sternly. Maki shot Honoka a grateful glance while Nico fumed.

"Fine!" Nico threw her hands in the air. "You guys clearly can't see that this club is a stupid idea when you'd be so much better as idols! It's your loss!" With that, she stormed out of the room, harshly shutting the door behind her.

* * *

Tonight's forecast looked promising. No overcast, little wind, and no homework to worry about getting done before heading to the hill. Putting her phone back in her pocket and her bag on her shoulder, Maki sighed as she headed to the classroom door. The class representative poll had taken place today, and she had narrowly avoided not being selected. She had offered to stay behind to help the new representative with some paperwork (her name was Hiyori, right?), so she was a bit late leaving for the day. Just as she was about to pass through the gates, she froze up.

 _That Nico girl's standing there, waiting for something_ , she gritted her teeth. _Though I have a guess, I might as well see what she wants._

"You again." If her mother heard her, she'd probably scold her. "We're not going to join your damn idol group, so please just leave us alone."

"You're late," Nico replied almost indifferently to Maki's demand, and didn't even turn to make eye contact with her. "And hold your horses, I'm not going to ask you about that."

"What _do_ you want to ask then?"

"You're the solitary type, Maki. You depend on yourself for a lot of things," The third year turned to her, and smiled almost empathetically. "So what I can't understand is why you hold onto this club so desperately. You can easily just watch the stars on your own time."

Maki knew full well the reason she had clung onto the astronomy club as hard as she had. It was just… embarrassing to say out loud? Nico would probably make fun of it. Or maybe not? It seemed the older girl was trying to be sincere. Alright. Might as well go for it.

"Rin-chan… I want to get to know her better," Suddenly, the ground was very interesting to look at. "I'm awkward and I can't start normal conversations, so I figured…" She looked up at Nico's face. Her mouth was shaped like a small 'o' and her eyebrows were raised. Then… that 'o' turned into a grin.

"Oho, ulterior motives," Maki wanted to slap that smug grin right off Nico's face. "I knew, right when I saw you, that you were anything _but_ a pure and innocent first year!" She didn't have a mirror on hand, but Maki knew her face was probably beet red, judging by how hot it felt.

 _Note to future self: Nico Yazawa is an_ asshole.

"If you're just going to tease me, I'm leaving."

"No, no, wait! I have one more thing about your club. It's serious, I promise."

"Well…" Maki looked at the ground again. "It's not _technically_ a club yet. We don't have enough members."

"It's gonna be a club! I'm gonna join."

"...Why does someone like you want to join an astronomy club? Besides, don't you have a club to run?"

"I already did some paperwork. The club's disbanded." Based on her expression, disbanding it was probably a bittersweet decision for her. "I saw you guys having a good time together and… well, it brought back some nostalgia." Now it was Nico's turn to get embarrassed, as shown by the light blush on her cheeks. "I'm not too big on stars and stuff like that, but it'd be nice just to hang out with some friends."

Did Nico not have many friends in her grade? Maki hadn't gone out of her way to watch Nico (like the latter had done to her and her friends), but it was probably a safe assumption to say she didn't. She understood why Nico had been empathetic towards her; they really were more similar than she had previously noticed. And unlike the black-haired girl, she had friends.

"Just don't talk about idols, okay?" Maki smiled at her upperclassman. "It makes Rin uncomfortable."

"Well…" It seemed like Nico had internally winced. "I can't promise anything. My mouth sometimes tends to run on its own. But… I'll try, okay?" She pulled out her phone to check the time.

"I gotta make a supermarket run. I'll see you when we make the club, nico?"

...Ugh, _that_ again? Old habits die hard, indeed.

"Sure, sure. See you tomorrow."


	4. Chapter 4

this uh, took longer than i thought,

i did write something else tho and u should check it out cause its a shitty one shot

as a sidenote there is like 1 other thing i have on the backburner atm that i want to write but i haven't completed my outline for it yet so it's really questionable if that'll come out first or more stargazer.

this is also the first chapter where i didnt follow my outline to a t because _someone_ suggested i do a thing. i hope you all like that thing.

* * *

While texting Kotori the news, something occurred to Maki.

 _I don't even have Rin-chan's phone number. I guess I'll tell her at school tomorrow_. _Or…_ There was a possibility she'd meet her up on the hill tonight. Maki was going regardless, but if Rin met her there, then she'd be able to pass on the news even sooner. Considering how close-knit their friend group was, Kotori had already texted Honoka and Umi anyway, so it just left Rin. And it was in person as well, so she'd get to see Rin's reaction.

For some reason, Nico's words echoed in her head.

 _No, no, I_ do not _have_ any _ulterior motives!_ She mentally kicked herself for that thought.

Why she was trying to convince herself that was beyond her.

* * *

She shook her head and grabbed her telescope, heading out easily and making for the hill she had frequented for years. She was glad that the night sky was clear today - there was a higher chance of Rin being there. Used to the weight of her telescope, she made it up the hill quickly, and was shocked at how overjoyed she felt at seeing Rin already on the hill.

"Ah! Maki-chan!" Rin waved to her, and Maki smiled as she brought her telescope over to where Rin was sitting. "What are you doing here?"

"Well… I figured it was a good night to stargaze, and I also have some news regarding the club." Rin glanced at her excitedly, waiting for Maki to resume speaking. "That third year, Nico, said she'll join our club. We officially have 6 members."

Rin's face lit up, and Maki suppressed a smile at the enthusiastic response. "Yay! We can finally stargaze as a group, nya!" Maki noticed that Rin tended to add "nya" to her sentences when she was particularly happy, like Nico added a "nico!" when she talked about idol stuff. _Everyone has their quirks,_ Maki thought.

"A-Also… I was wondering if I could get your number… you know, just in case there's an… emergency, or something…" Maki worried Rin would say no, but Rin smiled and rattled off her phone number easily, and Maki relaxed.

She now had Rin's number. She wasn't sure why it felt so important, but it… did.

"Well…" Maki began. "Now that we're here, do you want to share more about yourself? I don't know much, other than the fact that you like stargazing a lot." Rin smiled at that, a sad look in her eyes, and Maki wondered what had promoted that look, but Rin had started talking already.

"Well, let's see… I _really_ like cats, but the thing is, I'm allergic to them." Rin shot Maki a rueful look. "I also really don't like fish, but I love ramen! It's so delicious, and I can make it myself, because I otherwise can't cook too well."

"I also have two sisters, and I have to have them help me with English all the time, because I'm not too good at it…" Maki blinked. That was a lot to take in at once, and she furiously tried to remember it all. Likes ramen and cats, can't cook, hates fish, has sisters… good enough. Maki started to ask a question, but Rin then turned to Maki and asked, "What about you, Maki-chan? I only know that you can play the piano _really_ well." Maki blushed at the praise, and put off her question to start talking.

"Hmm… I really like tomatoes, to start. They're my favorite food. I also don't like tangerines at all. And my parents are owners of a hospital, which I'm going to inherit once I'm older… you knew that already, too. And of course, I love stargazing, and classical music."

Rin just stared in silence, even after she finished, causing Maki to try and avert her gaze. If this were one of those old westerns her dad would watch with her sometimes, a tumbleweed would probably roll by right now. Realizing this, Rin coughed.

"Sorry, I just imagined you, uh… playing the piano… um…"

 _Oh._ That was unexpected. She realized Rin had seen her play before. Maki had figured she would've noticed someone watching her play, but apparently not (First Nico, now Rin. Was there anyone else she needed to know about?). It was probably intended to be a compliment, though.

"Oh, oh! Maki-chan, look! Look!" Rin was pointing energetically at the sky. "Shooting star! Make a wish!"

"Make a wish…? Eh, I don't really have anything I want right now…"

"Fine! Then I'll make a wish! You get the next one, though! And you better have a wish then!" Watching Rin like this was quite humorous, especially since normally she was so shy. She had closed her eyes for a few minutes, her facial features softening, but still keeping that radiant smile.

"What'd you wish for?"

"That's supposed to be a secret! If I say it out loud, then it won't come true!" It wouldn't hurt to tease her, right? Just maybe a little…

"Let me guess… you wish you weren't allergic to cats." Maki smirked at Rin as she twirled her hair a bit.

"Nope! But almost. I was gonna wish for that until I had a better idea." The shorter girl grinned back at her, her eyes telling Maki she wasn't going to give up the secret on her wish so easily. Sighing and shaking her head, Maki silently admitted her defeat.

 _If she wants to be stubborn, she can be stubborn_.

There was a question Maki did want to ask, though. Something she was hoping Rin would give her a clear answer on.

"Rin-chan, why do you stargaze?" Rin didn't look like the girl to partake in a hobby like this, and considering it was the basis for their friendship, she thought it would be something interesting that they could talk about with one another. If anything, it was a wonder the question didn't come up before now.

"Well, it's… um, really childish, and uh…" She dodged Maki's eye contact and ran her fingers through her hair.

"If you don't want to tell me, it's fine," Maki shrugged. "You probably have a better reason than me, anyway." Was that a bad response? It sure felt like it, because all it brought was silence. It seemed like Rin was thinking about something, judging by how her eyebrows were furrowed.

"Something on your mind?" She hoped asking Rin about how her stargazing hobby began didn't bring up any bad memories.

"Ehh, Maki-chan… could you close your eyes?" Well, that was sudden. Despite that, she complied.

"If you're going to prank me, this better be good," Hopefully, some light teasing would get Rin out of whatever funk she'd created. She would, however, be lying if she said that Rin doing something to her while her eyes were closed was not her first guess.

She could hear Rin walking closer to her, the grass under her shoes making it a dead giveaway.

"K-Keep your eyes closed." Despite it wavering, there was some determination in her voice.

She thought she knew what Rin was going to do.

She soon found out, moments later, she was entirely wrong.

By the time she realized what was going on, it was already over, and Rin had dashed off.

 _She… kissed me…_


	5. Chapter 5

IT SURE HAS BEEN TWO MONTHS HAHAHHAHA…. oh jesus

in short: school has been kicking my butt. i also got sick for a bit too and that was FANTASTIC. right now, i'm on fall break… maybe i'll get around to ch 6 soon? lookin to be a mystery…

either way, i am so sorry for the wait…also it's like 12am as im typing this and i havent had the last part proofread by my friend so uh apologies if it sucks? yeah. touhou osts helped me a lot. shout out to zun for being ridiculously amazing at everything he does

 **still haven't finished my outline like the lazy ass i am… oh well**

* * *

Over the next few days, Rin ignored Maki entirely. She didn't respond to any of Maki's texts, even when Maki told her to be present so that they could all make the club an official thing. Whenever she approached Rin, she was greeted with the cold shoulder, the latter always staying completely silent and focusing on whatever she was doing (which was so out of character for her, only emphasizing what a predicament she was in). Despite the weather being fairly steady for this point of time in fall, not once did she ever see the orange-haired girl on the top of the hill, gazing at the heavens above.

The cause of the whole situation was easy to pinpoint: Rin had kissed Maki. There was no explanation after that, just silence. Rin herself probably didn't know how to act around Maki after that event, but on the flipside Maki didn't know either. She had assumed she'd look over the whole ordeal, and live life as if that never happened. Rin would've been embarrassed if she ever brought up the … _kiss_ , so she didn't want to rub any more salt into the wound. But now, as time seemed to pass by at an astonishingly sluggish rate, it appeared that wasn't an option anymore. If the situation was to be remedied, she had to make an effort, and bring up what had put them in this position in the first place.

It was only the second day of this treatment, and Maki wasn't sure how much more of it she could take.

* * *

"I counted six of you, you know."

Something about hearing that while she was down on her luck made her seethe with rage.

"What the hell do you mean?"

"Whoa, whoa, calm down now!" Maki didn't understand how she kept smiling, no matter what was directed at her. "I've just been wondering about something, you know? There's nothing wrong with that, right?"

"If you're trying to say something about my club, then I… _request_ that you say no more," With the intention of not wanting to seem like a troglodyte, she took a deep breath and attempted to carry on the conversation more politely. "They're my members, and my responsibility."

"Then you'd know full-well it isn't a club yet. You guys haven't even turned in an application." It was clear Nozomi was trying to play dumb, but just smart enough to point out everything Maki was trying to avoid talking about right now.

"Leave me alone, please."

"Y'know, I haven't seen you with Rin-chan for a while, and I gotta wonder… what's up with that? You two are awfully close, and-"

"I said it before, and I hate reiterating myself. Go. Away." It seemed like the best course of action for the situation was to remove herself from it. She readjusted her bag on her shoulder, and turned to face down the hallway.

"You're gonna have to confront each other sooner or later. After all, Rin-chan's got impressive stamina, but she can't run forever." Maki didn't stop to turn around to respond to that, but she knew Nozomi was right. They couldn't keep this up for any long period of time, what with being in the same class, and having gotten this far already. Still, she didn't know to repair this. It would definitely require a talk where they could come to a solid understand of each side, and how to continue their friendship from there. How would that even go? To be quite honest, Maki wasn't sure how she'd start up a regular conversation, let alone a talk with serious consequences if she was unable to work everything out. When would she talk to Rin was yet another question. It was difficult to intervene during class (with all the possible eavesdroppers around), and catching her during any free time had proven to be difficult. She didn't really know where Rin lived either, so that was out of the question as well.

" _She can't run forever," huh?_ It was probably meant to be taken metaphorically, considering the type of person Nozomi was.

But it _did_ give her an idea. Today was a track day. She texted her mom to tell her she'd be a little late coming home today.

* * *

"Alright, good work. You all can go home for the day." Rin grimaced, picking up her bags. She'd known that lately, she hadn't been running her best. Her times weren't improving. She'd make little mental notes, like her takeoff was too slow, or she wore herself out too quickly, but even then her speed would suffer.

She knew very well the cause of this, but decided not to say anything. Even when her coach had pulled her aside, asking if there was anything wrong, she shook her said and promised to exceed her record. Except she'd been saying that for the past few practices. There was no difference, and by this point, even her teammates were slightly worried. She decided she'd move quickly to avoid another bombardment of questions (or at least as quickly as she could, considering how tired she was). After getting a bit of a distance between her and everyone else, she let out a sigh, and resumed walking with a normal pace.

"Hey."

"Nya?!"

Just as her body was on cooldown, suddenly now her alertness had kicked itself into overdrive. She looked to the right of where she was standing to see Maki, arms folded and staring right at her. Rin's face morphed from surprise into a more somber expression.

"A-Anyway, I gotta go home and start my homework-"

"No you're not. You're staying right here." Rin looked at her in the eye, then back to the ground. Although she wasn't going anywhere, this was clearly the last place she wanted to be.

"Listen, I don't want to talk about this any more than you do. But whether we like it or not, it's something we have to discuss." Well, Maki had the first part down. It was this portion where her "think first, speak later" plan became a bit more murky. "H-Honestly… even after all that… you think you can't talk to me? We're friends, for crying out loud! You can talk to me about anything!" She was already faltering, and losing eye contact too. She was hoping Rin wouldn't run away.

And she didn't. When she gathered enough courage up to look the girl in the eyes again, there she still stood, albeit slightly slack-jawed in what Maki assumed was awe, for a reason she couldn't fathom.

"I'll say it again: we clearly have to discuss what happened that night. We see each other every day and trying to pretend like I don't even know you has gotten kind of awkward-"

"I understand."

* * *

"Kayo-chin, you said you got really good seats, but, wow!"

They couldn't have been older than ten.

"I know, look! We're so close to the front, Rin-chan!"

They could barely see over the people in front of them.

"Girls, I'll be right back. Don't move, I'm just going to get some food."

They could barely hear each other over the loud music.

But that was okay.

"Oh, Rin-chan… that looks so cute!"

"Mmhmm! I'm wearing this new skirt my mom got me for my birthday, nya!"

This easily beat out being at school by a wide margin. Not only was she free to wear what she wanted, but here she was, at a concert with her best friend. She wasn't nearly as invested in what was on stage (idols almost seemed like a foreign concept to her, no matter how many times Hanayo tried to explain it), but the way her friend's face… _lit up_ , and not just because of the stage lights…

It was a magical experience.

* * *

"Rin-chan…? Are you there…?"

She didn't want to respond. Part of her just wanted to cry in peace, and yet another part wanted Hanayo to stay by her side.

"I-I'm here… I'm here…" Despite how clouded her vision was at this moment, she managed to look up from her folded arms, and make out her friend's shape.

"It's okay, Rin-chan. I don't think those boys will find us here." Hanayo had crawled into her hiding spot now, and propped herself up beside her crying friend. "... They had no right to say those things."

"Those things" were something like… Rin being too boyish to wear a skirt, right? It was a bit of a recurring thing now. She knew she'd be safe if she just wore shorts, but just this once, she'd decided to wear a skirt, praying for the off-chance they didn't say anything.

It had taken mere minutes upon walking into school for her hopes to be squashed. Just barely into the first class of the day, and some boy had already pointed at her and laughed.

"... Can I really not wear skirts, Kayo-chin? Am I… too boyish…?" She was seeking honesty here, hoping that it was something Hanayo could give her. Instead, she was caught slightly off guard when her friend instead chose to hug her.

"Don't listen to them, Rin-chan… you look good in skirts…!"

* * *

Her mom sat her down on the couch so they were sitting across from each other. Usually this meant a serious conversation, so Rin braced herself for whatever was to come. There wasn't anything bad she'd done recently, right? She couldn't remember breaking anything recently, or getting into a fight with her sisters, so why was she…

* * *

She looked at the night sky and screamed. It was incoherent, unintelligible noise, but that wasn't what mattered.

"It's about Hanayo." Those three words, and her heart had dropped. "The accident… she didn't make it." Six more was all it took to send it to the bottom.

* * *

Rin didn't talk to anyone at school for a long while… how could she? Anyone she talked to was through Hanayo, and she was…

No, don't think about that. Everything now felt exhausting. Talking, track, just _existing_ felt tiring. She couldn't focus in class. It all went in one ear, and out the other. Someone confronted her about her grades. Rin couldn't remember who it was. A teacher? Her mother? It all was murky.

"Teacher, can I go to the nurse's office? I feel sick." Barely making eye contact, she raised her hand. The teacher furrowed her brow.

"Sure, but hurry," the tone of her voice seemed to just barely conceal irritation. "This is an important lesson, and I don't want you missing a good portion of it." That was all she needed to hear. She was out the door as soon as she could be.

* * *

"Mom says you gotta clean your room," One of Rin's sisters stuck her head in the doorway of Rin's bedroom. "And not just shove everything under your bed this time."

"I got it." Closing a book, Rin sighed and slid off her bed. She looked up at the doorway, only to find her sister had vanished in an instant. First things first, she'd retrieve everything from the deep, dark black hole that was the space under her bed. It was mostly just various pieces of clothing and papers for school (which made her grimace, as many were far past their due dates), and a few parts of her childhood.

Sorting through the mess, she'd found quite a few things she had thought she'd lost: a board game, _many_ cat stuffed animals, and even some old books she probably hadn't picked up since middle school. She was flipping through them, trying to decide if she should even keep them, when she noticed a more familiar one. The book was so old, the title was even partially faded out. Before opening it, she simply stared at it. It wasn't hers by any means, just a book that was lent to her, all those years ago, by Hanayo. She could vaguely remember the story itself, but she had suppressed the memory for so long, it was difficult recalling _what_ exactly was the subject material.

The cover, adorned with a beautiful illustration of a night sky, would imply a setting. It was a children's book, so it couldn't have been complex. The story was rather simple, and as she flipped through it, she felt the memory coming back to her.

The story was kind of sad for a children's book, though it started out fairly normally. There was a prince and a girl. The prince had descended from the stars, and appeared to the girl crying. When asked what exactly he was crying about, he responded that a very tragic event had occurred, and he could no longer see his family and friends. The girl consoled him, and informed him that they weren't really gone, in fact, they had just become stars, and he could see them anytime. The end of the story wasn't necessarily _meaningful_ ; the prince and the girl had predictably gotten married and it drew to a close.

Rin's eyes widened. Since Hanayo had given her this book, she must've had some level of belief in it, so that meant…

Hanayo could be there with her every night.

* * *

Rin finished her story, quietly adding, "It's a bit childish, now that I think about it, but…"

To her surprise, when she looked over, Maki had tears in her eyes. Maki quickly turned away, but Rin felt touched all the same. "Hey, Maki-chan… are you alright?"

Maki rubbed at her eyes annoyedly, her cheeks reddening. "I'm- I'm fine. If anything, you should be the sad one. I kinda feel bad for bringing it up now," she said, finally glancing back at Rin.

Rin felt a smile tug at her mouth. "It's ok, Maki-chan. I feel a bit better now, knowing that I'm not the only one who knows about it." Rin frowned slightly. "But… could you keep it a secret between us? It's still a bit embarrassing, and…"

Maki seemed to understand immediately, nodding, before her face fell again. "Rin-chan, we… we also need to talk about…" Maki's cheeks flushed again, before she got herself under control. "Uh, _that_."

"Oh, th-that…" Rin started fidgeting again, and avoided looking Maki in the eyes. "Umm… I guess over time I kinda projected myself onto the prince and…"

"I understand… so… I'm the girl…?"

"Guhh… could you just forget about the whole thing?" It sounded less like a plea and more like an elementary school kid asking a teacher to forget about calling them "mom".

"Alright, under one condition."

"I'm pretty willing to do anything at this point… it was so embarrassing, nya…"

"Join the club. You see, we're short a member…"

"You didn't even have to ask! I was definitely gonna join!"


End file.
